Marco Odermatt celebrated his fourth victory in the fifth Giant Slalom of the season in an impressive manner on a slope that was even more icy and treacherous than in previous years. The 24-year-old Swiss, who was leading the race after the first run, outclassed the competition and won despite a mistake in the last section of the course with a clear lead of 0.48 seconds.
The Swiss finished in the top-five in 16 of his last 17 World Cup appearances in the Giant Slalom, with 11th place in Lenzerheide on 20 March 2021 as the exception.
Odermatt's win ended a 14-year dry spell for Ski Switzerland. The last Swiss to win the Giant Slalom event in Adelboden was Marc Berthod in 2008.
Until today the only Swiss man to win at least four World Cup Giant Slalom events in a single season was Michael von Grünigen, who won five in 1995-1996 and four in 1996-1997.
Marco Odermatt is the fifth man, after Jean-Claude Killy, Ingemar Stenmark, Ted Ligety, and Marcel Hirscher, to win four of the first five Giant Slalom races in a World Cup season.
"It means everything to me. I fulfilled a childhood dream. I already shed tears on the two chairlift rides, which otherwise never happens", said Odermatt.
"There is nothing nicer, more difficult, and more special than winning in front of a home crowd. I tried to stay cool and ignore the tens of thousands of fans", he added.
He leads the Giant Slalom and Overall standings by 219 and 376 points respectively.
Manuel Feller finished in second place (+0.48) after setting the best time in the second run thanks to his extremely dynamic ride of the demanding Chuenisbärgli racecourse. He finished on the podium in three Giant Slalom events this World Cup season (today's second place and two 3rd places in Val d'Isère and Alta Badia). It's his 11th podium in the World Cup.
“My run didn't feel that good at all. But it was unbelievable when I saw the green at the finish and the lead of 1.24 seconds", ”said Feller.
Alexis Pinturault finished in third place, 0.54 seconds back. It's his second podium in Giant Slalom this season. He finished in the Top-3 39 times in Giant Slalom and 74 times in total in the World Cup.
In December 2021, Pinturault finished outside the top-10 in both World Cup Giant Slalom events in Alta Badia, ending a run of 13 consecutive top-five finishes in World Cup giant slalom events.
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